This invention relates in general to transportation systems and in particular to a new and useful method of securing equipment parts to a trackway supporting structure.
Concrete or steel track structures for track-following systems of transportation, particularly magnetic suspension railroads, comprise upright single or multiple trusses, or ground sections, with the working surfaces or parts of equipment needed for support, guidance, drive, braking, data transmission to the control station, and current transmission into the vehicle such as reaction rails, current rails, etc., being mounted on the supporting structure in exact position through adjustable screw connections or by means of securing bolts or securing lugs embedded in the concrete. From German Pat. No. OS 27 15 717 (U.S. Pat. No. 4,064,808 to Nakamura et al.), it is known to clamp a reaction rail in place in exact position, while using adjustable screw connections to compensate for the manufacturing tolerances of the supporting concrete structure. The accurate fixing by means of embedded securing bolts is shown in the German periodical Glaser Annalen, 105(181), No. 7/8, page 210. According to that disclosure, the needed positional accuracy is ensured directly at the site after a preliminary accurate adjustment of the track equipment, by introducing mortar and thus fixing the securing bolts in place. This, however, requires a preceding accurate adjustment and holding of the track equipment in the adjusted position during the casting and until the mortar solidifies. The adjustable screw connection is also known from Glasers Annalen. In FIG. 13 on page 213 of the mentioned reference, it is shown how the longitudinal stator plates are connected to the track support, or the joint working component, through adjustable securing elements. Adjustable securing elements require a considerable amount of screw and connection elements, if the equipment parts are to be exactly positioned and firmly secured to the track structure, and the mounting costs, up to the final adjustment of the parts in positions variable by screwing, are high. The working components and equipment parts can be structurally united only in few individual instances, since frequently materials are needed for the equipment parts having coefficients of expansion different from those of steel and concrete, or the construction does not allow such a unification, for example, a laminated stator for a longitudinal stator drive fixed to the track, or a correspondingly exact fabrication of the working surface as a component of the supporting structure are not feasible technically or justifiable economically.